Membership of the Medicare Benefits Schedule Review Taskforce

Membership of the taskforce includes doctors with expertise in general practice, surgery, pathology, radiology, public health and medical administration, who work across both the public and private health sectors, as well as consumer representation and academic expertise in health technology assessment.

Professor Bruce Robinson - Chair

Professor Bruce Robinson is an Endocrinologist. His research has focused on identifying genetic changes which either predispose or directly cause endocrine tumours, and among other highlights has been the formation of an international consortium of families from around the world to study medullary thyroid carcinoma and phaeochromocytoma. He has been head of the Cancer Genetics Unit at the Kolling Institute of Medical research, Royal North Shore Hospital, since 1989. He continues to practice at Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital.

Professor Robinson was Dean of Sydney Medical School from 2007 until 2016. Since 2001, he has been Chairman of Hoc Mai Foundation, a major program in medical and health education and exchange with Vietnam.

Professor Robinson is Chair of Australia’s peak advisory and funding body for medical research, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Top of page

Dr Steve Hambleton - Deputy Chair, representative of PHCAG

Dr Steve Hambleton is a former Federal President of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) 2011-2014. He served on the AMA Council of General Practice at a State and Federal level for more than 15 years. He has been the AMA representative on various national committees and taskforces including Chair of the AMA Taskforce on Indigenous Health.

He is now Chair of the Primary Health Care Advisory Group to investigate options to provide better care for people with complex and chronic illness; innovative care and funding models; better recognition and treatment of mental health conditions; and greater connection between primary health care and hospital care.

Dr Hambleton is also the Chairman of the National eHealth Transition Authority and is an AVANT Mutual Group Board Member and serves on the Board of the Australasian Medical Publishing Company.

Dr Hambleton has been a Member of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners since 1987, has been a clinical preceptor teaching General Practice Registrars. He was awarded an honorary Fellowship of the RACGP in September 2014 for his services to general practice.Top of page

Dr Matthew Andrews - Clinical member (Diagnostic Imaging)

Dr Matthew Andrews is a radiologist in private practice with a special interest in ultrasound. Dr Andrews is a past President of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) and the Australasian Society of Ultrasound in Medicine (ASUM). He has been involved in the ultrasound, economic and accreditation areas of the RANZCR for many years and was a foundation member of the College’s Accreditation Guidelines and Quality program. He has participated in many Department of Health activities related to Diagnostic imaging. Dr Andrews is currently a member of the Medical Services Advisory Committee, with a speciality in diagnostic imaging.

Professor Michael Besser - Clinical member (Neurosurgery)

Professor Michael Besser is a recently retired neurosurgeon, with more than 30years at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. Having retired from practising surgery in 2008, he still teaches as an Associate Professor at Sydney University and as a Consultant Emeritus Neurosurgeon at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the Children's Hospital Westmead. He was honoured with the Order of Australia (A.M) in 2001 for services to medicine.

He served many roles in the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia (NSA) culminating in the position of President. Within the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons his activities have included those of Councillor and Examiner in Neurosurgery.

Dr Eleanor Chew – Clinical member (General Practice)

Dr Eleanor Chew is a specialist general practitioner and medical educator, with extensive experience representing the role of primary care in the health services profession. A graduate of the University of Queensland, Dr Chew has over 28 years’ experience as a GP, working in Brisbane, Darwin, Perth and Canberra in a variety of practice settings including solo, small practices, and corporate practice.

Dr Chew is a past Vice President and Chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and is an experienced leader with strategic vision and a solid understanding of governance responsibilities. Through her roles with the RACGP, Dr Chew has interacted extensively with other Colleges, the AMA, Medical Board, Medical Defence Organisations, and State and Commonwealth departments, advocating for general practitioners and gaining valuable insights into the many challenges facing the health care system.

Dr Chew serves on a range of committees and working groups focused on the advancement of quality primary care, in both the private and government sectors.

Dr Michael Coglin - Clinical member (Private provider)

Dr Michael Coglin has been working for Healthscope since 1999. His current role as Chief Medical Officer involves executive responsibility for clinical governance, clinical risk management, patient safety, quality and compliance, claims and litigation, medical affairs and public affairs/media relations. He represents Healthscope on a number of bodies including the Private Hospital Sector Committee of the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.

For the twenty years prior to taking up his current appointment he held senior posts in medical management in a variety of public hospitals in both metropolitan and regional settings in Victoria and the Northern Territory.

Professor Adam Elshaug - Health economist

He is Professor of Health Policy, HCF Research Foundation Professorial Research Fellow, and co-Director of the Menzies Centre for Health Policy (MCHP) at the University of Sydney. He also heads the Value in Health Care Division with MCHP, is Senior Fellow with the Lown Institute in Boston, a member of the Choosing Wisely Australia advisory group, the Choosing Wisely International Planning Committee, the ACSQHC’s Atlas of Healthcare Variation Advisory Group, and an elected Member of the Executive Committee of the Health Services Research Association of Australia and New Zealand (HSRAANZ).

Dr Tammy Kimpton – Clinical member (General Practice)

Dr Kimpton grew up on the west coast of Tasmania. She graduated from the University of Newcastle in 2003. She worked as a junior doctor on the central coast of NSW prior to commencing GP training. Dr Kimpton returned to Scone in 2010 and completed her Fellowship in General Practice in 2013.

Professor Paul Glasziou - Clinical member (General Practice)

Professor Paul Glasziou is a Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine at Bond University and a part-time General Practitioner. He was the Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine in Oxford from 2003-2010. His key interests include identifying and removing the barriers to using high quality research in everyday clinical practice. He is the author of six books related to evidence-based practice and has authored over 160 peer-reviewed journal articles. He is the recipient of an NHRMC Australia Fellowship which he commenced at Bond University in July, 2010.

Professor Michael Grigg - Clinical member (Surgery)

Professor Michael Grigg is the Monash University Professor of Surgery based at Eastern Health - a position that he has held for 14 years. He is also the Executive Clinical Director of Surgical Services at Eastern Health. Professor Grigg is a Vascular Surgeon and has been President of the Australia and New Zealand Society of Vascular Surgery and remains a member of the Executive of that Society. He is also the Vice President of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He is a member of the 6 person Expert Panel advising the Council of Australian Governments. Professor Grigg founded the Surgical Research Group at Eastern Health and has been a reviewer for numerous journals and the NHMRC. His major research interests relate to arterial replacement surgery. He is welcome Foundation research fellow.

Dr Lee Gruner - Clinical member (Medical administration)

Dr Lee Gruner is President of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators (RACMA) and has held senior positions in both public and private health services. Since 1997 she has been a consultant in health services and management, particularly involved in organisation-wide continuous quality improvement, strategic planning, review of health services, organisation change, and clinical risk management and consumer participation mechanisms. She has been an educator at Monash University, for RACMA and the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards for over 20 years.

Ms Rebecca James - Consumer representative

Ms Rebecca James has worked extensively in public policy and management in government and the private sector. She is currently a member of the Medical Services Advisory Committee, as a Consumer Representative. Ms James was the CEO of Research Australia from 2007-09, and currently works in global health as a consultant to Medicines for Malaria Venture. She has previously been a Director for Health Services Australia, a member of the National Health Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council, Director of the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre, and Director and Chairman of Neopec. Ms James has worked as a government Advisor for previous Ministers’ for Health and Ageing.

Dr Matthew McConnell - Clinical member (Public health)

Dr Matt McConnell is a Public Health Physician working at Country Health SA Local Health Network. He has more than 10 years diverse leadership experience as a medical professional and educator. Areas of accomplishments include developing health care strategies, integrating service models, improving quality and enhancing surveillance. He has been a lecturer at the University of Adelaide, involved with teaching medical students and healthcare professionals in medicine, public health and clinical practice.

Dr Bev Rowbotham - Clinical member (Pathology)

Dr Bev Rowbotham trained in haematology in Brisbane and at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. While her MD was awarded for work in thrombosis research, she maintains an active interest in all areas of diagnostic haematology. She is Associate Professor of Pathology at the University of Queensland and was President of the Royal College of Pathologists Australasia from 2007-2009. Dr Rowbotham is currently Director of Haematology and Member of the Board of Directors at Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology.

Dr Jo Sutherland – Clinical member (Anaesthetics)

Dr Joanna Sutherland is a VMO Anaesthetist at Coffs Harbour Health Campus, a Conjoint Associate Professor with the UNSW Rural Medical School, and has a Masters of Health Policy (Sydney University) and a Masters of Clinical Science (research) from the University of Adelaide/Joanna Briggs Institute. She is an appointed member of the NSW Mid North Coast Local Health District Governing Board, a Director of the NSW North Coast Primary Health Network, and supports health system integration so that patient outcomes and experiences are the best they can be.

Professor Nick Talley - Clinical member (Medicine)

Professor Nick Talley is currently Pro Vice Chancellor of the Faculty of Health at the University of Newcastle, and professor of Medicine. Professor Talley is also currently President of the Royal College of Physicians. He works at the John Hunter Hospital in New South Wales as a gastroenterologist. Prior to this he had many senior academic and bureaucratic roles, including as the Chief of the Internal Medicine Service at the Mayo Clinic, Florida, a rare honour for an Australian. Prior to that he was the Foundation Chair of Medicine at Nepean Hospital in Sydney. His research interests are in neurogastroenterology including the treatment, pathophysiology and epidemiology of functional dyspepsia and irritable bowel syndrome; he is considered an international authority in the field. He also has a strong interest in gastrointestinal complications in diabetes.